When I came to Buenos Aires, I knew that I wanted to travel around South America. Thus, I immediately started planning a trip to Brazil. In August, I made these dreams a reality by traveling to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The planning for this trip was intense, as I had to book an international flight from Buenos Aires to Rio. I also had to get a tourist visa to travel to Brazil, a new policy as of April 2025. Thus, I had to make sure I had a hostel and flights booked before I could even think about entering the country. After booking all my travel, I applied for the visa and I received news that I got the tourist visa a few days later. And then I was off!

My flight landed in Rio on Thursday night, where I checked in my hostel and got pizza from a local pizzeria. I had never stayed in a hostel before, but I had an amazing experience in a women’s dorm, where a few other female travelers and I stayed. We had a private bathroom and I had a locker to store my backpack. The hostel was filled with travelers from all over the world, and over the next few days, I got to know some of them and call them friends.

On Friday, I had booked a tour around the city by bus. On this bus, I was able to see many highlights of the city including Christ the Redeemer, the national church, the Escadaria Selarón (the colorful red steps in Rio) and Sugarloaf Mountain, where you get amazing views of the city. On this bus trip, I ran into someone from the hostel, and we made plans to explore nightlife together after concluding our tours. Near Sugarloaf Mountain, I stopped by a local restaurant and enjoyed a large Brazilian lunch of steak with black beans, rice, fries and farofa. During this meal, I wanted to ask my waiter about farofa, cassava flour and spices that you can spread over your meal. When I was asking my waiter, it was my first time experiencing major language difficulties, as I tried using Spanish and English, but my waiter only spoke Portuguese.

Later that night, I met up with some new friends that I met at the hostel and we traveled to Lapa, a popular area for nightlife. There, we listened to live samba music and met local Brazilians and other travelers. Saturday morning, I went down to Copacabana Beach and laid on the beach for hours. Although it’s still winter in Latin America, the weather in Rio was beautiful, around 70 degrees every day. I walked along the beach, dipping my toes in the water and enjoying the sound of the waves. It’s been years since I’ve been to a beach, so I felt at peace while there.

After being on the beach, I went to a fútbol game between Brazilian teams. The team from Rio won, and the energy in Maracanã Stadium was electric. In the evening, I went on a bar crawl in Lapa with other tourists, meeting some very nice people from the United Kingdom and Germany.

On my last full day in Rio, I went to the Tijuca National Park and hiked around the park, seeing caves and waterfalls. I also wandered around Santa Teresa, an adorable area in a different part of the city. Finally, I met up with my friends from the hostel, and we went out for one last night.

On my last day, I felt like I had seen a ton of variety in Rio, and I felt content with my weekend in Rio. Monday morning, I ran around the city buying souvenirs and then headed to the airport to go back to Buenos Aires. This trip was my first time traveling solo. My parents and friends had major concerns about Rio de Janeiro; the city, and Brazil overall, has a reputation for being dangerous. While I’m sure this is true for many tourists, I was very careful, both with my personal safety by not walking alone at night, and with my belongings, only carrying closed purses and not exposing my phone in public. With these tactics, I was able to have an incredibly enjoyable time while solo traveling in Brazil.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: CEA CAPA: Latin American Studies in Buenos Aire